1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a cash handling device such as a cash register which is installed in various types of stores for totalizing the commodities transactions and a cash till which is installed in a bank.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Recently, stores whose interior design is unified, including the facilities and equipments to be installed therein, has been increasing. Typical examples are boutiques, coffee shops, etc. Therefore, a cash register which is to be installed in these stores requires designs tailored to the interior design of each store.
FIG. 1 for example, discloses, a perspective view of a cash register 1 in accordance with the known prior art. The cash register 1 comprises a body portion 7 including an upper casing 9 and a lower casing 10 that electronic circuits, etc. can be accommodated therein and a drawer housing portion 14 in which a drawer 12 of a cash box is housed. The body portion 7 is comprised of an operation portion 6 equipped with a key switch 11 on the surface 3 faced upwards and a protrusion 5 which protrudes upwards in FIG. 1 from the operation portion 6. A display portion 8 which can display transaction data is provided at the forward side of the protrusion 5, and a printer 4 which can issue a receipt and a journal is installed at the left side of the display portion 8'.
FIG. 2 is a sectionl view of a cash register taken along the sectional line II--II of FIG. 1. The body portion 7 and the drawer housing portion 14 of the cash register 1 are independently configured. More particularly, the drawer housing portion 14 is composed of a rectangular structure made of metal, and the body portion 7 is composed of an upper casing 9 and a lower casing 10, which are made of plastic resin, etc. The body portion 7 and the drawer housing portion 14 are fastened together by fitting bolts 15a and 15b in bosses 17a and 17b provided at the upper part of the money drawer housing portion 14 through through-holes 16a and 16b located at the bottom of the lower casing 10.
It is necessary for the printer 4 to accommodate a journal paper 19 and a receipt paper, each of which is a roll of paper. The printer 4 must also accommodate journal paper 20 which is printed out and wound by a printing mechanism 18. For this reason, the printer 4 is required to have a comparatively large capacity. A protrusion 5 which extends upwards from the operation portion 6 is installed in the cash register 1, thereby providing a space for the above journal paper 19 and 20'.
FIG. 3 is a simplified sectional view of the cash register 1 taken along the sectional line III--III in FIG. 1. In the cash register 1, the width W2 of the money drawer housing portion 14 is larger than that W1 of the body portion 7. Therefore, the cash register 1 is relatively large-sized.
In the cash register 1 of the above prior art, since the drawer housing portion 14 is made of metal, the weight thereof is also increased. Furthermore, the width W2 of the drawer housing portion 14 being larger than that W1 of the body portion 7, the outside profile of the cash register 1 may give customers an oppressive feeling.
Also, in the case of changing the design of this type of cash register 1, it is conventionally usual that the design of only the body portion 7 be changed. The design of the cash register 1 can not be completely changed. Therefore, it is difficult to change the design of the cash register to a novel one according to changes of the times. Moreover, since the drawer housing portion 14 and the body portion 7 are independently constructed, the number of component parts is increased, thereby causing the production cost to be accordingly increased.
Still further, since a protrusion 5 is provided in order to accommodate the printer 4 in the cash register 1 in the above prior art, the height of the cash register 1 becomes relatively high and the outside profile thereof is appears very large. And a design becomes uniform. Therefore, the cash register 1 like that shown in FIG. 1 may not match respective interior designs of some types of stores and may therefore cause a sense of incongruity.